MyTransportation.org – Finding Rides for Buckeyes

In 2010, Easter Seals Project ACTION visited Allen County, Ohio as part of the Accessible Transportation Coalitions Initiative. Now, the FACTS (Future of Accessible-Coordinated Transportation Services) coalition has launched MyTransportation.org, a central source to find a ride in their multi-county region. With a directory of local transportation options, a link to the local mobility management center, and information about older adult drivers, the site offers local residents the chance to hit the road in a whole new way!



Screenshot of MyTransportation.org Homepage

Jefferson County Rallies Agencies around Transportation Issues

At their August 2010 meeting, the ATCI team from Jefferson County, Colo. set out an ambitious agenda that focused on improving the coordination of services to create transportation options for disadvantaged populations. To best utilize existing resources in a difficult financial environment, they sought to better link geographic areas through improving the connections between organizations providing various modes of transit.

Following their two-day ATCI event, community stakeholders came together through a grant provided from the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) to form a Local Coordinating Council for Human Services Transportation (LCC).  The LCC has made several substantial steps forward on their objectives. The LCC includes representatives of local government, human services organizations, public, private and specialized transportation providers, and representatives of the disability and aging communities. The LCC developed by-laws, Participation Agreements and an Action and Sustainability Plan.  The group is also working with the Denver Regional Mobility and Access Council (a regional coordinating council) to develop a web-based one-call center to coordinate transportation resources in the Denver metropolitan region, drawing on best practice examples from around the country. 

Given their strong focus on the older adult community and with an eye toward addressing unmet needs in the area, the team was involved with the Jefferson County Aging Well Summits in June 2010 and June 2011. With nearly 180 attendees at each event, the venues provided an opportunity to discuss the impact of an aging population on transportation infrastructure.  The need for sustainable transit funding for specialized service provision in the area, as well as strategies that the community could use to adapt to such a sweeping demographic change were discussed.  The LCC has developed a White Paper on transportation to educate policy makers and the general population on the projected growing need for accessible transportation.

Using their collaborative strength and knowledge, the Jefferson County ATCI team continues to explore creative options and work to design a community in which people with disabilities and older adults are able to take part in all aspects of community life. 

Breaking Down Barriers to Rides

Coordination Changing Lives in Allen County, Ohio

Contributed by Rik Opstelten

For organizations working to improve access to community transportation, the importance of their efforts is underscored by the stories from people whose lives changed as a result of access to transportation. When communities come together to coordinate and improve transportation options, barriers to rides are broken down for people who need a ride. To that end, here are a few shining examples of how the lives of two individuals transformed after their community came together to help them find a ride.

In 2010, Allen County, Ohio took part in ESPA’s AccessibleTransportation Coalitions Initiative (ATCI). This meeting brought together a growing coalition that includes the disability community, the local Easter Seals affiliate, transportation providers, and county and regional planning officials who work together to coordinate transportation in Allen County and the region. Administered by the Area Agency on Aging 3, the coalition, called the Future of Accessible/Coordinated Transportation Services (FACTS), operates a one-call referral system to help people find a ride. FACTS also operate a last-resort fund to provide transportation to people who might otherwise fall through the cracks of existing eligibility requirements.

“The great thing about our call center and FIND A RIDE program is that it is structured around what our community already provides,” says Erica Petrie, FACTS coordinator. “We don’t offer just another transportation service. Rather we fill in the gaps.  Our call center staff works to ensure that the caller knows about transportation options that are already available to them in the community.  When there is nothing available, we can set up transportation through our FIND A RIDE program for those over 60 or under 60 with a disability. With each person who gets a ride, we feel we are accomplishing our goal.” 

What does it mean when someone is able to call one knowledgeable source to learn what resources exist to get them where they need to go? A world opens up, as it has for one 46-year-old woman with a disability who has decided to go back to school to get her GED. Her night classes end at 7 p.m. after the fixed-route service has stopped running. Thanks to FACTS and Good Rides, a transportation service operated by the local Goodwill Easter Seals affiliate, she is not only able to go to school and return home, but she can get the education she wants to pursue her dreams.

“Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley understands that the people we serve need to be mobile in the community, able to access every aspect of community life for educational, social, or work purposes,” stated Michelle Caserta, program/transportation coordinator, Goodwill Easter Seals Miami Valley.  “Our participation in ATCI and the FACTS coalition help us play a key part in seeing that every possible community resource is utilized toward that end.  Such coordination helps us ensure that this is only one of many successes we are proud to contribute.”

Other people have had their lives changed due to accessible transportation, such as an older woman who is now able to go to medical appointments on her own for the first time in twenty five years. Her husband used to take her where she needed to go, but after he passed away, her daughter assumed that role. As often happens, however, her daughter’s schedule does not always allow her to give her mother a ride. Thanks to the connections made by FACTS, the woman is now able to go to medical appointments on her own and has a new sense of pride and independence.

These are just two people from one community whose stories represent what is possible when a group breaks down barriers to accessible transportation and creates opportunities for community involvement.

Northern Mariana Islands Creates First Transportation Office

Posted by Whitney E. Gray 

Currently in our eleventh year of the Accessible Transportation Coalitions Initiative (formerly called Mobility Planning Services Institute), ESPA has assisted many communities in improving accessible transportation, and teams from past years continue to make big strides in their communities. The 2003 ATCI/MPS Team from the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) recently helped accomplished a significant milestone—the creation of a transportation office. “MPSI was a great learning experience, and it finally paid off!” Thomas J. Camacho, a member of the CNMI team, stated.

Team CNMI wanted “people with disabilities, their families and the Man'Amko (elderly) [to] have available [an] accessible, flexible, reliable transportation program and services of their choice.” Just last month, after many years of advocacy work on public transportation, CNMI established its first transportation office called the Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority. On May 27, the Honorable Benigno R. Fitial signed into law HB. 17-43 (now PL. 17-43) establishing the Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority within the Office of the Governor. On August 11, Governor Fitial affirmed and officially established the Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority within the Office of the Governor and concurrently appointed Thomas J. Camacho, a member of the CNMI team, as his Special Assistant for Public Transportation.

In addition to establishing the first transit authority office, PL. 17-43 and the Governor's Memorandum re-designated the FTA Consolidated Formula grants from the CNMI Public School System to the new Commonwealth Office of Transit Authority. The Saipan Call-a-Ride Transportation Services for People with Disabilities and the Elderly has been privatized, as well, and continues to be in demand. This service is also recognized as the ADA Paratransit System that will compliment CNMI’s future public transportation system or fixed-route system.

To learn more about other ATCI/MPS teams and their accomplishments, stay tuned for ESPA’s upcoming product, Mobility Planning Services Institute Retrospective: Celebrating Ten Years of Expanded Accessible Transportation Options in Our Communities. Due out this fall, this new retrospective highlights the work of a sampling of MPS/ATCI teams from 2001 to 2010 and concludes with several of the lessons we learned from these remarkable MPS/ATCI teams and communities.

Accessible Transportation in Lee County, South Carolina Grows through Coalition Building

Contributed by Krystian Boreyko

Project ACTION recently traveled to Lee County in South Carolina where the sun was hot, the hospitality was unbeatable, and the desire to create accessible transportation solutions in a rural area was pervasive. ESPA was in Lee County for the most recent installment of the Accessible Transportation Coalitions Initiative(ATCI) technical assistance event which involves bringing the disability community and transportation providers together at the local level to determine how they can work together to increase accessible transportation.

Aside from private automobile ownership, very few transportation options exist in Lee County. However, the county has older adults and individuals with disabilities who need better access to jobs, medical appointments, and social events. The coalition assembled for the event was born out of a local Transit Taskforce, which originated as a Quality of Life Committee. The evolution of the group speaks to its vision of public transportation as a means of enhancing access for all residents while strengthening economic development and helping the environment.

Members of the 2011 ATCI Team Lee County, S.C.

Donna Smith and Krystian Boreyko, ESPA’s representatives facilitating the ATCI session, were inspired by the strength the coalition displayed both in its size and the creative ideas of its members. The 38-member team – led by Bettye Scott, O.J. Papucci, and Ann August with Elijah Dinkins providing logistical support – represented a range of community interests, including the Lee County Council, the Bishopville City Council, the Santee Wateree Regional Transit Authority, the Santee-Lynches Regional Council of Governments and several transit advocates representing people with disabilities and older adults. The two-day event involved discussions on creative solutions for funding public transportation and ways of changing perceptions of public transit in a region where it has not existed before. Coalition members view transportation as more than just a means of getting from Point A to Point B. They see its potential to

• Bring community members together,
• Help residents with mobility limitations to live more independently,
• Increase job opportunities in the County, and
• Generally turn a rural area into a more livable community where one does not have to be solely dependent upon an automobile to get around.

Project ACTION celebrates the Lee County ATCI Team’s commitment to developing a public transit system with accessibility integrated into its design, and we look forward to the ribbon cutting ceremony for the first bus route!